According to The Humane Society of the United States, six to eight million cats and dogs enter shelters in the United States each year. Three to four million of these animals are adopted out. That means three to four million animals are murdered each year. Many use the word "euthanized," but we prefer to call it what it is. These animals committed no crime; most of them never harmed a human. They were born, plain and simple.

And animals are great at reproducing. When researching the subject of pet overpopulation, you will frequently find the statements that "over the course of six years, one female dog and her offspring can theoretically produce 67,000 dogs," and that "over the course of seven years, one female cat and her offspring can theoretically produce 420,000 cats." While these numbers are a mathematical exercise, not a biological reality, they are used to make a point. (Actual studies taking into account average birth rates, survival rates and life expectancy of feral cats indicate that "Realistically, over 12 years, one unspayed female, with all her unspayed female offspring, reasonably can be expected to be responsible for over 3200 kittens if there is no human intervention." [Ref 1] ) But the bottom line is the same. There are a lot of homeless animals out there, and without human intervention they are multiplying.

There aren't enough homes for them all.

Our time-honored tradition and system of calling "Animal Control" to catch or trap stray or feral cats and dogs, take them to crowded shelters, then kill the "surplus" animals to make room for the new ones has proven inefficient and expensive. This method of pet overpopulation management costs the U.S. taxpayer close to $250 million in euthanization and carcass disposal alone. The bulk of this financial burden fell on the municipalities and counties of our country.

In a shelter, we must pay for the cost of the shelter, its maintenance and upkeep, the animals' food and healthcare, the cost of running adoption programs - and when these fail to place all the animals in homes, we then have to pay to murder the "surplus" cats and dogs. There is a far simpler solution. Stop the problem at the source. Sterilize the animals. Prevent unwanted, unplanned, unexpected births. The benefits?

It's Healthy. Sterilization has proven to improve the quality of life, health, and behavior of our pets.

It's Humane. Free or low-cost sterilization programs have proven to be effective - VERY effective, in fact. According to a study conducted by Animal People, "Who Needs Low-Cost Spay/Neutering?" (link included in resources, below) these programs reduce the number of animals that had to be euthanized annually by 30-60% (even in those towns and cities where human populations have been steadily increasing).

If your community doesn't care about killing its surplus animals, it should certainly care about the size of the taxpayer burden spent for animal control. If you can't appeal to their hearts, appeal to their purse-strings.

As The Humane Society of the United States puts it, "The solution can be simply stated. Its implementation, however, requires sweeping efforts from a variety of organizations and people, including you." (www.hsus.org) Here we provide presentations, resources, and research to support and aid anyone who wishes to change the local legislation and put in place programs to manage the "pet overpopulation" problem.

Education. Legislation. Sterilization. Step one is right here and it starts with you.

"Taking the mortality into account, along with birth and death rates, the average stray female will have 5.25 litters in her lifetime, encompassing 22.3 kittens. At age two months there should be 12.9 survivors, roughly six females and seven males (at maturity, roughly 2/3 of the stray cat population is male [Ref6], due to the high mortality of females during first pregnancy and birth), which will decrease to four females over time. These six females will go on to have their 22 surviving kittens each. Realistically, over 12 years, one unspayed female, with all her unspayed female offspring, reasonably can be expected to be responsible for over 3200 kittens if there is no human intervention."

2. Jochle, W., Jochle, M., ``Reproduction in a feral cat population and its control with a prolactin inhibitor''. 2nd International Symposium on Canine and Feline Reproduction, Belgium.

Articles & Links - updated Feb 2010

Why Low Cost Spay/Neuter is Important

It's Meow or NeverA very visual depiction of the problem. There aren't enough homes for them all. Click on the "In Honor of all the Homeless Animals" banner for a moving tribute. If you have trouble with this link, please copy and paste this web address into your browser: http://www.itsmeowornever.org/homeless.html

"Any doubts about the efficacy of low-cost neutering should be laid to rest by the results of a new national study carried out over the past six months by ANIMAL PEOPLE, under sponsorship of the North Shore Animal League. Perceiving lack of hard data on the efficacy of low-cost neutering and consequent veterinary resistance as the two main obstacles to the availability of low-cost programs, NSAL president John Stevenson commissioned the ANIMAL PEOPLE study in December 1993, on behalf of Spay USA, a project of NSAL." If you have trouble with this link, please copy and paste this web address into your browser: http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/Low-costNeut.html

Why People Do Not Spay/Neuter by Joshua Frank, Ph.D. and Pamela Carlisle-Frank, Ph.D. of FIREPAW Examines reasons why a significant segment of the population is still resistant to spay and neuter their pets, despite the large strides made in spay/neuter rates across the country, and what can be done to overcome these barriers? Paws to Think Magazine, Autumn 2003, pages 13-16 (NOTE: PDF takes a while to load, have patience!). If you have trouble with the above link, please copy and paste this web address directly into your browser: http://www.petsavers.org/pages/paws_to_think/PDF_archive/07ptt_autumn_03.pdf1/25/04

Alternatives to Surgical Spay/Neuter

The Feral Cat Contraceptive Vaccine - "... using genetic engineering technology to modify an approved vaccine, a strain of the bacterium Salmonella, which could then be delivered to feral cats in the wild via a vaccine-laden bait." Intro and FAQs on this possible vaccine. If you have trouble with the above link, please copy and paste this web address directly into your browser: http://www.actioncat.com/research.html7/18/04

Pediatric or Early Spay/Neuter by Dr Tracy Land "Pediatric, or Early Spay/Neuter, refers to spaying or neutering pets at a much earlier age than the old six to nine month standard. With today's anesthetics, advanced monitoring equipment, and surgical techniques, not only are these procedures safe in young puppies and kittens, the risk of complication is lower and the recovery period shorter than in mature pets." If you have trouble with the above link, please copy and paste this web address directly into your browser: http://www.petorphans.com/earlyneut.html7/18/04

Model Local Spay/Neuter Programs

Nine Model Programs for Highly Successful Spay/Neuter Profiles of 9 successful Spay/Neuter programs from across the country for use to start other local spay/neuter programs. "These profiles include such helpful information as startup and annual costs, sources of funding, annual surgery totals, a description of services, and marketing strategies. Contact information is provided for each program so that you can follow up for more details." If you have trouble with the above link, please copy and paste this web address directly into your browser: http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehomelesspets/pdf/spayneuterprograms.pdf1/25/04

Other Successful Low Cost Spay/Neuter Schemes byPrevent Unwanted Pets. Site hosted and maintained by The Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman Family Foundation. "An alternative and more humane method of pet population control is the modern concept of spaying and neutering animals on a large scale. The findings of a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship to the USA and Canada to study the Role of Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinics in the Control of Stray and Unwanted Animals' provides conclusive evidence that these clinics can and do play a vital and humane role in any animal control programme." If you have trouble with the above link, please copy and paste this web address directly into your browser: http://www.all-creatures.org/pup/otherlowcost.html2/27/04

Public Funding for Spay/Neuter "Do you have great ideas for a spay/neuter program but lack funding? Have you exhausted every fundraiser imaginable - from garage sales to silent auctions? Money is available. It's time to get creative and look in new places that you might not traditionally think of as possible funding sources." If you have trouble with the above link, please copy and paste this web address directly into your browser: http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehomelesspets/pdf/FundingSN.pdf1/29/05

Model Statewide Spay/Neuter Programs

New Hampshire

New Hampshire decided in 1993 that something had to be done to stop the killing in the state's animal shelters, as well as saving the taxpayers money. New Hampshire's two main programs are a Low Income Assistance program, in which a qualified person is charged $10 for the spay/neuter and up to $35 in pre-surgery immunizations, and a "break" for spay/neuter surgeries for animals adopted from shelters. New Hampshire has the lowest euthanasia rate in shelters in all 50 US states, and this is credited to the success of this program.

New Hampshire's Campaign for a Publicly Funded Spay/Neuter Program An Interview with Peter Marsh. "New Hampshire attorney Peter Marsh is one of the directors of Solutions to Overpopulation of Pets (STOP), which spearheaded New Hampshire's campaign for a publicly funded spay/neuter program. The initiative he helped push through the state legislature is a model of what can be achieved in order to provide a statewide, low-cost program." In this interview, Peter Marsh explains why New Hampshire chose to create a program like this, and how it has positively changed the overall statistics of shelters in the state. If you have trouble with the above link, please copy and paste this web address directly into your browser: http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehomelesspets/localnmhpprograms/nhinterview.cfm1/31/04

Paws to Think Magazine, by The Pet Savers Foundation, Autumn 2003 profiles the New Hampshire State Program. Articles include:

The New Hampshire Spay/Neuter Program: Lessons from the First 10 Years (pages 19-23) What worked and what didn't work, so that the lessons don't have to be relearned with every new program.

Investing in Prevention: The Way Home (page 27-29) Why spay/neuter programs are essential in reducing the number of euthanized animals in shelters. Profiles San Francisco and New Hampshire as examples.

From New Hampshire... to Maine (page 30-31) How a grassroots group in Maine used the example of the New Hampshire spay/neuter model to convince their legislature to enact a similar program for their state. Also gives tips to others on how to lobby state legislators for statewide spay/neuter programs.<

New Jersey was the first to implement a state-wide pet population control program. Started in 1984, it was originally funded solely by a $3 surcharge on non-neutered dogs, and the $10 or $20 co-payment fee by the animal owner for the spay/neuter. In 1994, New Jersey added a Pet Friendly License Plate that generated over $1 million toward the program from 1994-1997.